Residential and commercial air conditioners include as a part thereof a fan coil unit located within a housing which includes a coil through which refrigerant (liquid or gas, such as freon) is pumped. The coil is normally supported above a condensation pan, convector tray or primary pan having one or more openings through which air is blown by one or more fans powered by motors which are supported below and from the primary pan. The air passing through the coil creates condensation on the coil which drips down upon and into the primary pan and is then conducted by an appropriate outlet through a discharge pipe to a secondary pan and/or an associated drain.
Such conventional primary pans are generally made from galvanized metal and rust with relative ease. The fasteners (nuts and bolts and/or rivets) which connect the fan and/or fan housings to the primary pan are also generally made from metal and rust with equal relative ease. Once the primary pan and/or the fasteners rust, the condensation/water normally accumulating therein and draining properly therefrom, cannot do so. Instead the condensation can, for example, drip through the rusted galvanized primary pan and/or the fasteners into the underlying motor(s) which drives the fan(s) thereby causing the motor to short-out. The fan motor itself is normally supported by a metallic bracket and excessive rusting of the primary pans/metal fasteners will cause the fan support brackets to rust. Excessive rusting coupled with the centrifugal force of the fan motor would cause wobble, undesirable increased noise, and could eventually result in the brackets breaking or sufficiently loosening such that the motors and fans simply fall from the primary pan.
Excessive rust also blocks or reduces normal drainage which results in fungus growth, and fungus growth in turn can cause odors. Should such fungus growth cause the normal drain opening of the primary pan to close or to become appreciably blocked, the water/condensation will overflow with attendant damage.
The latter-identified patent and pending patent application reduce rust and fungus growth associated with conventional galvanized metal primary pans. The latter disclosures also provide an obvious solution to rubber gasket deterioration associated with conventional primary pans. Primary pan reinforcement, motor mounts and fan housing mounts are also set forth in the latter-identified disclosures.